“No comment,” he said shortly after the end of the Patriots first training camp practice of the summer on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. “I can’t really comment. I want to, but I can’t.”

Spikes, who was part of the 2010 draft class with Hernandez, said the goal of the team was not to look back, but to look forward and block out any potential distractions.

“Honestly, that’s going to be the whole key — just make sure we keep guys on the main goal and try and get better each and every day,” he said. “Don’t look back in the past. It is what it is.

“Honestly, I never really pay attention to the outside,” he added. “All we have is us here in this locker room — the guys we go to war with. I think the team is always going to face a little adversity. That’s what brings a team closer. We’ve all got to get through it and push forward. You can’t really look back. It won’t change anything.”